10 thoughts on the Pac-10

Ten more notes and thoughts from Pac-10 media day, in no meaningful order whatsoever:
1. USC’s media guide is the first I’ve ever seen to have a picture on its cover of a true freshman — forward DeMar DeRozan, who is one of five Trojans featured on out front. He must really be set to be a one-and-done.
2. Some nice editorial license in Arizona State’s media guide in a feature asking each player to list the “best clutch shot by a Sun Devil last season.” Jeff Pendergraph writes in his entry that one of the shots is “my tip dunk vs. USC in the Pac-10 Tournament (bad call).” If you remember, that was the dunk that might have tied the game in the final seconds but Pendergraph was called for an offensive foul allowing USC to salt the game away. That might have cost ASU a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
3. Oregon coach Ernie Kent said the plan is for the school to break ground on its new basketball arena in the next month and that the hope is that it will be completed in time for the 2010-11 season. That would mean just two more seasons at Mac Court.
4. One newcomer to watch is Oregon State forward Daniel Deane, a transfer from Utah. OSU coach Craig Robinson said “I think you guys will be surprised” by Deane and he expects a big contribution from the 6-8, 245-pounder.
5. The Huskies will have a scrimmage tomorrow against Wyoming that is closed to the public and can’t be publicized by the school in any way (no stats can be kept and no one is allowed to watch). Teams are allowed one such scrimmage if they play only one pubic exhibition, which UW is doing next Thursday against Western Washington. Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com has a good list of who is playing who this weekend.
6. There are seven scholarship players from the state of Washington on Pac-10 rosters this season, four at UW and one each at WSU, Stanford and Arizona State.
7. Jon Brockman is the leading active scorer in the Pac-10 with 1,299 career points. UCLA’s Josh Shipp is next with 1,254. Brockman is also the leading rebounder with 892, Pendergraph next at 655.
8. UW is in the top three in returning production in every statistical category but one — three-point shooting — where the Huskies are seventh with 50.8 percent back. That is obviously a testament to the production UW got in that stat last year from Ryan Appleby.
9. Appleby, by the way, is back in town and attended a UW practice this week while waiting for the NBA D-League draft early next month.
10. Mike Montgomery dropped as many one-liners as anyone throughout the day. After following Robinson to the podium — Robinson was peppered witih questions about being Barack Obama’s brother-in-law — Montgomery said that “my brother is running for the president of the homeowners’ association in the Santa Cruz mountains.”